Essay from the year 2015 in the subject English Language and Literature Studies - Literature, , language: English, abstract: Philip K. Dick belonged to one of the most prominent advocates of science fiction, and the question of humanity (i.e. what it means to be human) is amongst his most thoroughly explored themes. Androids, better known under its loosely based cinema adaptation Blade Runner, again remains paramount in this quest, for the literary pursuit of the characters' powers of empathy gradually obscures the boundaries between what the reader would naturally expect: humane humans in contrast to inhuman androids. This socio-critical theme evolves through the portrayal of both androids and human beings in conjunction with the author's most prominent stylistic device: the use of irony.